“How do I find a birthmother?” is one of the most common questions we get asked by waiting parents.
The truth is, there is no playbook when it comes to finding a match with an expectant mother considering adoption.
It can happen any time just about any where. Even thousands of feet up in the air.
Just ask Temple Phipps. She was flying from Atlanta to Raleigh when she got into a conversation with the woman seating next to her.
It turns out the woman, Samantha Snipes, was 8 months pregnant and had just left an abusive boyfriend.
Realizing she was unable to support a child, Samantha was considering adoption for her baby.
Credit: Samantha Snipes
“The position I was in, he wasn’t going to have a very good life. He was going to have a struggling life and I didn’t want any of that for him,” she recently told ABC News.
For her part, Temple was hoping to have a child and was looking at adoption. But at 42 and single, she was quickly running out of options.
“Every time I would inquire, they’d said it “really needs to be a two-parent household,'” she said of the agencies she was working with.
On the flight the two woman got to know each other and exchanged phone numbers after they landed.
A few days later, Samantha gave birth and called Temple.
“It just felt right talking with her and seeing her with the baby,” Samantha said. “She looked like she would be a great mother for him and she already looked like she loved him after holding him for an hour. The stuff that I wasn’t feeling, she was feeling.”
Temple still can’t believe it.
“I would just say to anybody, don’t give up hope,” she said. “I won the baby lottery for sure, miracles do happen and I think you can manifest those things. And this is what manifested.”
Credit: Samantha Snipes
Since the baby’s birth 18 months ago, Samantha has moved to be closer toTemple and regularly visits their son, Vaughn. She has also shared her placement story in a blog post that has gone viral.
For Temple, the fairy tale isn’t over just yet. She and Samantha plan to write a book together about their chance encounter and hopefully inspire others who are adopting or considering adoption for their baby.
“I count my blessings every day,” said the ecstatic adoptive mother. “I still can’t believe this happened to me. I am in shock and awe.”
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